Childhood Friends
by Shadow of the Forgotten
Summary: Eiji's childhood friend is staying with him for the summer, and though he's glad to have her back, his days are about to get a lot crazier.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own the Prince of Tennis or anything affiliated with said show. I do own Kari and her crazy ideas though.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

* * *

Eiji Kikumaru was sleeping peacefully, dreaming about brushing his teeth, when he was hit upside the head with a pillow.

"Wakey, wakey Kuku!" An overly cheerful voice said.

Still half asleep, Eiji halfheartedly waved his hand in what he hoped to be a dismissing way. "Go away mo-." He started to say before the words he heard finally sunk in. 'Kuku?' He thought groggily. 'Nobody's called me that since…' Suddenly Eiji was up and out of bed with a huge grin on his face. "Kari!" He said happily as he prepared to glomp the girl before him. Of course, one glare from said girl was all it took for him to back off. "Eh heh heh…" He laughed nervously. "Sorry, habit."

Kari just grinned as she reached over and gave her friend a hug. "Long time no see eh Kuku." She said as she stepped back.

"Ah come on, don't call me that anymore." Eiji whined. "It's so…" He paused, trying to find the right word.

"Cute, childish and suits you perfectly." Kari finished for him.

Eiji crossed his arms and began to pout. "I'm not childish." He mumbled.

"Yeah, you're acting sooo mature." Kari said as she rolled her eyes. Her friend just stuck his tongue out in response. Shaking her head, Kari plopped down on Eiji's bed and smiled. "So how have you been?" She asked.

Forgetting all about the earlier incident, Eiji returned her smile. "Not bad, how about you? I haven't seen you since last summer, anything interesting happen?"

"Naah, same old stuff." Kari replied with a wave of her hand. "School, more school and the occasional prank. You know, just the usual."

They continued to catch up on the past year for a while, when suddenly Eiji realized what day it was. "Wait a minute." He said. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't supposed to be here until the end of next week."

"Oh, I was just being so good that mom decided I could come here a little early." Kari replied with complete sincerity.

Or course since Eiji had grown up with her; he didn't believe her for a second. "What did you do this time?" He asked with a sigh.

"Nothing, I was a complete angel." She replied with fake innocence.

Eiji raised an eyebrow. "Yeah right, and pigs can fly." He said sarcastically.

"You know, there was that one time we launched that pi-." Kari started to say before being cut off.

"Can we get back on topic?" Eiji asked seriously.

Kari sighed. "Fine, enough joking around. I came over early because I needed to get out of the house. Mom's getting remarried and the guy's an ass."

Eiji gave Kari a comforting hug and waited for her to continue.

"So since I was finished with school I packed my things and caught the next flight here. I know I'm a week early, but your mom said it was fine." Kari said, before suddenly grinning. "Guess what?"

"What?" Eiji asked, confused somewhat by the change in her demeanor.

"I'm going to be staying here the rest of the summer, possibly longer if I can convince mom to let me go to high school here." Kari said happily.

Eiji's face lit up with a smile. "Hurray! It'll be just like old times again." He said as he bounced up and down on his bed. Then he paused and looked at her seriously. "You better not hide any cameras in my house this time." He said with a small glare.

Kari looked at him innocently. "Now why would I do something like that?" She asked.

Eiji just looked at her.

"All right, fine." Kari grumbled. "No hidden cameras, I promise." Then she grinned evilly. "Besides, I get more usable footage if I film things directly."

Groaning, Eiji held his head in his hands. "You still haven't stopped getting _information_ on people?" He asked.

"Of course not." Kari replied with a grin. "Besides, you never know when the information might come in handy."

"Yeah, if you end up broke and need some quick cash." Eiji muttered. "Don't you know blackmail's illegal?"

"Duh." Kari replied. "But it's not blackmail. I'm just selling home videos for large sums of money. There's nothing wrong with that."

Eiji just shook his head.

"Besides, if people want to do stupid stuff in front of me it's their own fault. It's not like I plan for them to do it." Seeing Eiji's look, she sighed. "Ok, I don't _always_ plan for them to do it."

"No, just most of the time right?" Eiji asked with a grin.

"Hey, if people say 'get themselves drunk'." Kari said as she watched Eiji pale. "I have every right to videotape what happens." 'Even if I did manipulate the situation a little.' She thought with a grin.

"Ok, changing subjects now." Eiji said as he cleared his throat. "Since I don't get done with school for another couple of days, what are you going to do?"

"I figured I'd go exploring, unless you'd like me to go to school with you." Kari said with a smirk.

Eiji gulped and shook his head at the thought. "Why don't you go exploring. I only have half days left, so you'd probably get bored."

"I'm sure I'd be able to entertain myself, but I think I'll go and see the sights for awhile." Kari said. "Today's a half day right?" Seeing Eiji's nod, she clapped her hands together. "That settles it, I'll go explore today while you're at school and then I'll meet you at school when you get out. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great." Eiji said as he stood up and grabbed his school clothes. "Just let me get ready and then you can walk me to school. That way you'll know where to meet me at."

"Ok." Kari said as she headed towards the door. "I'll grab my stuff and wait for you outside." Walking out, she closed the door behind her. 'He hasn't changed a bit.' She thought happily.

25 minutes later they found themselves outside of Eiji's school. "I get done at 11:30am." Eiji said. "So I'll see you then."

"Later." Kari said with a wave as she headed off to who knows where.

"Bye!" Eiji said, waving enthusiastically. Turning around, he started towards his first class before suddenly pausing. "Why does it feel like I've forgotten something?" He asked himself out loud. "Oh well, it must not be that important." He said with a shrug as he continued on his way.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own the Prince of Tennis or anything affiliated with said show. I do own Kari and her crazy ideas though.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

* * *

Kari spent the next few hours wandering around the city, occasionally stopping to peer inside a store that looked interesting. "Man, everything's so different now." She said as she crossed the street. "I can't believe it's been six years since I've been here. Time sure does fly." Glancing at her watch, her eyes widened. "Ah crap, I'm going to be late!" She cried as she ran back to Eiji's school, managing to make it in a record 15 minutes. By the time she reached the gates, Kari was completely out of breath. Resting for a moment, she calmed down. "Ok, now where is he?" She asked herself as she looked around. The schoolyard was practically empty with only a couple of students scattered here and there. "I know I'm a little late." Kari muttered. "But he should still be here. Where the hell is he?" Leaning against the gate, she waited several more minutes before deciding to find him herself. "You are so dead when I find you." She said as she clenched her fists.

Walking around for what seemed like ever, but in reality was only about five minutes, Kari finally spotted the hyperactive redhead. Stepping up behind him, she tapped him on the shoulder to drag his attention away from the tennis game he was watching.

Turning around, Eiji paled as he stared at his now very irate friend. "Eh, hey Kari, what's the matter?" He asked.

"Hmm, let's see." Kari said as she crossed her arms. "What time is it?"

Eiji looked over at the school's clock and gulped. "12:10pm." He said cringing.

"And what time were you supposed to meet me?" Kari asked.

"I know, I'm sooo sorry." Eiji said with a bow, and a somewhat exaggerated whine. "I forgot to tell you that I had practice today."

Grabbing Eiji and putting him in a headlock, Kari smirked as she tousled his hair. Letting him go, she shook her head in a disapproving manner. "Just for that, now you get to buy me lunch."

Eiji smiled and threw his arm around her shoulder. "No problem, we'll go as soon as I'm fi-."

"Hey Eiji, who's the chick?" Momo interrupted as him, Kaidoh and Ryoma all gathered around the pair.

"Oh, hey guys." Eiji said smiling, squeezing his friends arm so she wouldn't tear off Momo's head for the whole 'chick' comment. "I'd like you to meet my childhood friend Kari. She's going to be staying with me for the summer."

"What's up." Kari said, nodding at the three, before glaring at the one who'd called her a chick. The only reason he was still in one piece was because he was Eiji's friend.

"My name's Momoshiro, Momo for short." The annoying one said, completely ignorant to the harsh looks Kari was giving him. "The pint-sized one with the ball cap and bad attitude is Ryoma, and the snake behind me is Kaidoh." Momo finished, unaware of the flames that were erupting behind his two teammates.

"What did you call me?!" Ryoma and Kaidoh yelled at the same time.

Putting his hands up in surrender, Momo began to back away slowly. "I-it was just a joke." He squeaked.

Kaidoh and Ryoma dove at Momo, and soon the three of them were rolling all over the place, making several painful sounding noises.

"Should we help him?" Kari asked curiously as the trio continued to tear into each other.

"Naah, they do this all the time." Eiji replied. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the others."

With a shrug, Kari walked off after her skipping friend. They hadn't gone more than a few feet when the fighting trio suddenly appeared before them.

"That sounds fun, we'll come too." Momo said as he drug the other two behind him.

"Let go." Ryoma said angrily as Kaidoh hissed.

Ignoring their complaints, Momo pointed towards some trees with his head. "Fuji and Kawamura went over there to take a short break." He said.

"Great, let's go." Eiji said happily as he led the way. As soon as he saw them, Eiji sped up, practically dragging his friend behind him. "Fuji, Kawamura." Eiji said as they stopped in front of the two men. "I'd like you to meet my friend Kari." Pushing her in front of him, Eiji put his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey." Kari said, just as Kaidoh and Ryoma finally broke loose and began to chase Momo around again. Tilting her head back, she looked at Eiji questioningly. "You sure we shouldn't help him, they look like they really mean to kill him this time."

"Momo will be fine." The shorter brown haired man said. "I'm Fuji." Holding out his hand, Fuji waited for Kari to do the same.

Shaking the offered hand firmly, Kari smiled. "Nice to meet you Fuji." She said. "And you too…uh?"

"Kawamura." Kawamura finished as he offered her his hand as well.

"That's right, Kawamura." Kari said, shaking his hand and nodding.

Suddenly the group of troublemakers plowed right between the two, tearing their hands apart.

"Ow." Kari said, shaking her hand gently. Glaring at the still fighting trio, she walked over and placed a hand on both Momo and Kaidoh's shoulder. Squeezing hard enough to make them flinch, Kari made them face her. "Now that I have your attention." She said with slightly narrowed eyes. "I suggest you stop, unless you'd like to find out the true meaning of the word pain. Understand?"

Paling, Momo quickly nodded his head with Kaidoh following suit soon after.

"Good." Kari said with a smile.

"Heh, you guys just got told." Ryoma said snickering, only to stop abruptly when Kari turned a glare on him.

Moving in front of him, Kari whacked the boy upside the head. "You were included in that too, _boy_." She said.

Ryoma gulped and for once in his life wisely kept his mouth shut. She was just as scary as Fuji. Making a mental note to _never_ piss her off, Ryoma went to stand by a solemn Kaidoh and Momo.

"Wow." Kawamura said in awe. "I thought only Fuji was capable of scaring them like that."

"Ah, it was nothing." Kari said, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

"That's true." Eiji whispered quietly. "She was just playing around. If she'd really been mad they'd probably have ended up in either a psych ward or the hospital. She's really scary when you piss her off."

Fuji, who had overheard Eiji, looked back at the girl Kari. 'How interesting.' He thought with a small smile. 'Perhaps we can share secrets.' Laughing maniacally inside his head, he turned to look at Eiji when he began to speak once again.

"Ok." Eiji said, once more his bubbly self. "Let's go and introduce you to the rest of the team." But before he could drag Kari off again, three guys came walking towards them. "Oishi!" Eiji yelled as he glomped his partner. "Kari, come say hello to Oishi."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Kari said smiling. "Eiji talks about you all the time." Then she leaned closer to Oishi's ear. "I think he likes you." When both teens turned bright red and began sputtering, she smirked. "I'm just kidding."

Unfortunately, the others had heard what Kari had said and were now teasing the embarrassed pair.

"Leave them alone." Kari said, hands on her hips.

Eiji was just about to thank her, when she continued.

"They'll die from all that blood rushing to their heads, and then you won't be able to tease them about it later." Kari finished with a smirk.

Groaning, Eiji's head drooped. 'So much for her bailing me out.' He thought sadly.

Eiji wasn't allowed to brood for much longer though as a somewhat intimidating man, with brown hair and glasses, walked up. "What are you doing?" The man asked with a glare. "You're all supposed to be practicing, 50 la-." He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Captain, a word please." A black haired man with glasses said.

Nodding his head, the two walked a short distance away and began to talk in hushed tones.

Kari saw the black haired one hand a small stack of bills to the other before smiling, the brown haired one smiled as well. As they started back towards the group, she tucked that information away for possible use later.

"Kari, meet the captain." Eiji said, pointing at the brown haired teen when the men returned. "Oh, and that one's Inui." He continued, nodding his head at the other man.

"Tezuka." The captain said, nodding his head slightly.

"Nice to meet you Tezuka." Kari said, glancing briefly at his pocket, which both Tezuka and Fuji happened to notice. "And you too Inui."

Inui simply nodded and wrote a few lines in the notebook he was carrying.

Thinking the captain had forgotten about their ditching practice, the group began to relax. Unfortunately, it was too soon for that.

"Now where was I?" Tezuka asked, narrowing his eyes at his team. "Oh yes, as punishment for interrupting practice…" Tezuka said as he leveled a glare at his teammates, causing them to break out in a nervous sweat. "Everyone is to drink a cup of Inui's latest concoction." Looking pointedly at Kari, he continued. "And yes, that means you too." He finished with a smirk. Patting his now fat pocket, he smiled. 'A win, win situation.' He thought. 'Inui get's to test his latest weapon and I'll finally be able to afford those new shoes I've been looking at.' Giving himself a mental pat on the back, he smiled as he headed off to the store, ignoring his teammate's anguished cries.

Inui grinned as he handed out the cups to everyone. 'I must remember to bribe the captain more often.' He thought as he handed the last cup to Kari.

"What is this?" Kari asked, eyeing the drink with caution. It looked like some kind of oozing slime.

"It's better not to know." Eiji said with a grimace as everyone else nodded in agreement.

As always, while everyone else was trying to convince their jaws to unlock, Fuji merely smiled and drank his as one would a glass of water. His teammates glared at him as he finished his drink and threw his cup in the trash.

However, their attention was quickly focused on Kari when Eiji shouted "No Way!" Looking over to see what was going on, everyone's eyes widened as they watched her down the drink in one gulp. Not only that, but she didn't run for the fountain afterwards. Kari just tossed her cup in the trash and crossed her arms.

"Hurry up you guys, I don't have all day." Kari said, pointing at her watch for emphasis.

"Impossible." Ryoma mumbled as his eyes widened.

Kari just looked at everyone and blinked, not sure what exactly was going on.

"I thought only Fuji had an iron stomach." Momo said in awe. "That was amazing."

"What are you talking about?" Kari asked, now thoroughly confused.

"You drank Inui's juice and didn't get sick." Oishi said with wide eyes.

"Or scream, or drown yourself, or faint." Eiji added to his partner's statement.

"Oh that?" Kari asked as she looked at their drinks. "It wasn't that bad, I've had worse."

Everyone paled at the thought of something _worse_ than Inui's special juice.

"Do I even want to know?" Momo asked in fright.

Kari just raised an eyebrow. "You don't know?" She asked. Seeing everyone shake their heads, she continued. "You mean none of you have ever tasted Eiji's cooking before?"

Everyone looked confused, except for Eiji, he looked mortified.

"I'm an excellent cook…now." Eiji said, muttering the last part under his breath.

"No way!" Kari said shocked. "You mean all those cooking lessons I gave you finally managed to pay off?"

Knowing where she was headed, Eiji hid his eyes in preparation of the humiliation while his teammates eagerly waited for her to continue.

"Back when I first met you, you could burn cereal. And I'm not talking about the kind you cook either." Kari said.

Eiji cringed as his teammates all started laughing. 'Her knowledge of blackmailable information is amazing.' He thought proudly, she was his friend after all. 'I just really wish she'd stop telling everyone my secrets.' Whining to himself, he hung his head.

Glancing back down at her watch, Kari wrapped her arm around Eiji's. "Hey Kuku, you promised to buy me lunch and I'm starving. So let's go eat." She said, tugging him towards the schools gate.

"Kuku?" Inui asked curiously, a smile threatening to break out on his face as Momo, Ryoma and Kaidoh began to laugh hysterically. Fuji raised an eyebrow and smirked while Oishi covered a chuckle behind his hand.

Narrowing his eyes at Kari, Eiji scratched the back of his head nervously. "…well…um…that is…" He mumbled in embarrassment.

"Eh heh, oops." Kari said, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, it's a habit." Placing her hands on her hips, she glared at her friends teammates. "Look, I gave him that nickname years ago so knock it off." She growled. Six pairs of eyes focused on her immediately and Kari smiled evilly. "If I hear that any of you have called him that or made fun of the nickname _I_ gave my best friend, you _will_ regret it. Understood?" Seeing their nods, she smiled cheerfully. "Good, now let's go grab some food Eiji." Pulling him once more, she waved. "Maybe I'll see you guys later."

"Bye." Eiji called out as he was pulled off towards the street.

The two remained silent until they had reached the restaurant and bought their food. Sitting down at a small booth, Kari nibbled on a fry as she stared at her childhood friend. "So, your new friends are rather interesting." She said with a smile. "I rather like that quite one…um…Fuji, he reminds me of myself a little. And that guy with the black hair and glasses is kinda creepy, but all in all they're a good bunch."

"Yeah, I was lucky to have met them." Eiji said happily as he took a large bite of his burger.

Smiling softly, Kari made a mental note to call her mom and check on the transfer papers. She'd really missed this the last six years. 'And just think of how much fun I'll have if I hang out with all of them for the next few years.' She thought with a grin. 'I'm sure we can get into all sorts of trouble.'


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own the Prince of Tennis or anything affiliated with said show. I do own Kari and her crazy ideas though.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

* * *

The rest of the week passed by quickly and on Saturday night Kari found herself in Eiji's living room surrounded by the rest of the tennis team. Grabbing another handful of chips, she munched on them while watching Ryoma and Momo argue over who could eat the most pretzels in one bite.

"I ate 57!' Momo said triumphantly. "Top that shrimp."

Narrowing his eyes at the nickname, Ryoma pulled out 60 pretzels and shoved them all in his mouth at once. Unfortunately, he began to choke soon after and ended up spitting them all out. Coughing a few times to clear his throat, he growled. "I'll beat you this time." Ryoma said as he took a drink of water and grabbed another handful of pretzels.

"I think that's enough you two." Oishi said as he took the pretzels from Ryoma and shook his head. "If you're not careful one of you could end up in the hospital."

"Yes mom." Momo and Ryoma said at the same time. When Oishi glared at them, they both gulped and quickly looked down at the floor.

Tezuka looked up from his book and shook his head at the younger boys. "You two should really grow up." He stated simply before picking back up his story.

From his spot on the floor, Momo quickly stuck his tongue out at the captain. "So what should we do?" He asked after several seconds of silence. "Maybe play a game or something?"

"I have an idea." Kari said suddenly, an evil grin forming on her face.

Eiji's eyes widened and he began to furiously shake his head. "No way!" He said. "I remember what happened last time."

Kari looked at him innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Eiji narrowed his eyes. "Riiiight. So I guess that tape that you hide in your closet for blackmail purposes doesn't exist."

"I still have no clue what you're talking about." Kari said with a small smirk.

By now all the tennis club members had moved in closer, waiting for them to continue. When Eiji and Kari just kept staring each other down, Ryoma decided to speak up. "So, what happened?" He asked curiously.

Seeing that Kari was going to start talking, Eiji quickly spoke up. It would be better if he explained it himself. "It all happened during last summer vacation. As you know, I went to visit Kari in America during that time. Well, she had some friends that came over and we all hung out together. One night we all got a little drunk, unintentionally mind you…Kari spiked our drinks." Eiji said, turning a glare on his friend. When Kari looked away and began to whistle innocently, he shook his head and continued. "Anyway, we got a little tipsy and she decided to have some fun with us. Somehow, I still have no idea how she pulled it off, she convinced us to play spin the bottle." Eiji said the last part with disgust.

"Well that doesn't sound like a bad thing." Momo said. "I bet her friends were really cute."

Eiji just looked at him. "Her friends were all _guys_!"

There was a moment of silence before everyone cracked up laughing.

After they had calmed down a little, Eiji continued. "And if that wasn't bad enough, she videotaped the whole thing and showed it to us after we were sober!"

Their laughter began anew.

Kari just smirked. "You should have seen the looks on their faces, priceless."

Oishi patted Eiji on the back in a soothing jester. "It was just a harmless joke." He said as he tried to calm his partner down.

"Harmless!" Eiji said annoyed. "Yeah right. It might have been harmless if her _friends_ hadn't had even bigger _friends_. They kept coming after us for a whole week. I get exhausted just thinking about all the running we did."

"Damn, and I thought Fuji was mean. Kari is much worse." Momo said as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

After everyone had calmed down, albeit some less than others (as was evident by the death glare Eiji was still giving his friend, though she simply ignored it), Momo looked around the room and clapped his hands together. "Ok, no more sitting around. What are we going to do?" He asked.

Everyone was silent for a moment as they thought about it. Suddenly Fuji spoke up. "Why don't we play truth or dare?" He asked with a somewhat disturbing grin.

Their eyes all widened at the thought of playing a game like _that_ against Fuji. Though it was usually just a harmless game, when Fuji gets involved things tend to end up life threatening. And _if_ you managed to survive, the emotional trauma would haunt you for the rest of your life. So to put it bluntly, they were scared shitless.

Now multiply that by ten and you have close to what Eiji was currently feeling. Fuji was bad enough, but adding Kari to the mix would be suicidal. Shivering at the thought, Eiji tried to figure out how to decline Fuji's offer. Easier said than done though since telling Fuji _no_ was far more dangerous than just going along with it. Eiji whimpered as he realized how hopeless the situation was, but before he could do anything else, it was decided for him.

"I'm game." Kari said with a smirk. Looking at the rest of the group, she waited for their responses. And waited and waited.

Apparently everyone else had just realized what Eiji had known all along, that they would be playing against Fuji _and_ Kari, and now they were sitting there paralyzed in fear.

Deciding that he was done with waiting, Fuji opened his eyes and stared at his teammates. "So, are you playing?" He asked, though it didn't sound like he was giving them an option.

And yet again, everyone came to the same conclusion as Eiji. Nodding their heads, they resigned themselves to their gruesome fate.

"Well let's get this st-." Ryoma said before he was cut off by Fuji.

"Not quite yet." Fuji said smiling. "I'm going to explain the rules first." Seeing Momo about to interrupt, he quickly continued. "I know everyone knows how to play," He said, looking at Momo until his mouth promptly shut. "But the rules for this game are going to be _slightly_ different. All dares have to involve another person here, in one way or another. It'll be more fun this way." Fuji said with a smirk. "Is that all right with you guys?" He asked in a tone that dared them to say no.

Nodding their heads, everyone agreed before getting ready to play. Of course, this led to an argument over who got to go first.

"I'm going first." Momo said.

"No, I am." Ryoma stated with a glare.

Kaidoh hissed before joining in. "No, I will go first."

"But I wanna go first." Eiji said as he bounced up and down on the couch.

Oishi just ignored the fight and tried to calm his hyperactive partner down.

"Silence." Tezuka said sternly. And suddenly it was so quiet that you could practically hear Kari smirking at the guys; who were now cowering and looking like they were facing a giant monster. "I will be going first." Tezuka said as he turned to face Momo. "Truth or dare?" He asked.

Momo looked at the captain for a few moments before deciding. "Dare." He said, figuring that it would be laps or something like that.

"I dare you to…" Tezuka paused before leaning over and whispering something to Kaidoh. When Kaidoh's eyes narrowed in anger, Tezuka smirked and turned back towards Momo. "Run." He finished.

And just like that, Kaidoh was off the floor and headed towards Momo. Momo screamed and took off out of the room, running and weaving around the house trying to get to safety. When he ran through the living room for the third time, Momo overheard part of a conversation.

"…you tell Kaidoh?" He heard Oishi ask.

"I told him that Momo told everyone that he was gay." Tezuka said with a smirk.

Momo's eyes widened and he paused for a second while the information sunk in. Unfortunately, that was all Kaidoh needed as he finally caught up to him. The next sounds heard were quite painful.

After listening for a few more moments, everyone turned back to the game and tuned out the fighting pair. Something they had all become quite good at since the pair seemed to fight constantly.

"Well since Momo's currently _detained_, I'll go next." Inui said as he pushed his glasses up. Looking over at Ryoma, he pulled out his notebook. "Truth or dare?" Inui asked.

Since he was fairly certain any dare he'd have to do would involve some of Inui's disgusting juice, Ryoma chose the other option. "I'll take truth." He said.

"Hmm." Inui said with a small smile. "Very well, how much spin do you put on the ball to make your Cool Drive shot?"

Smirking, Ryoma stood up. "Come on, I'll explain it outside." He said as he grabbed his racket and headed towards the door, Inui following right behind him.

Before anyone could say anything, Eiji jumped up and practically shouted. "My turn! Captain, truth or dare?" He asked as he bounced up and down.

Tezuka blinked. Sure he knew they were all playing, he'd started the game after all, but he hadn't expected any of them to actually choose him. He figured they'd leave him be since he was the captain. Deciding to look brave (and a little macho), Tezuka crossed his arms and smirked. "Dare."

Eiji tapped his chin in thought for a few seconds before clapping his hands together and smiling. "I dare you to challenge Kawamura in a cooking contest."

Tezuka's eyes widened as he looked at his fellow teammate.

"That'd be cool." Kawamura said happily. Seeing Tezuka's look, he smiled. "Come on captain, it'll be fun. Just a little friendly cook off between teammates."

Tezuka was just about to calm down when he saw Fuji smirk. Unfortunately, he realized what he was doing a little too late and Fuji had already placed a racket into Kawamura's hand.

"BURNING BABY!!" Kawamura shouted as he grabbed Tezuka by the arm and drug him into the kitchen.

'So much for a friendly competition.' Tezuka thought grimly.

Eiji laughed at the look the captain gave him before he was pulled through the doorway.

"That wasn't very nice Fuji." Oishi said, though it was clear that he'd found it funny as well.

Kari looked around and sweatdropped; most everyone had already left the room. "Well, there's only the four of us left now." She said as she eyed the remaining occupants. "So what do you say we finish this game off with a bang?"

Eiji paled and stood up quickly. "A-actually, I think I smell something burning in the kitchen." He said quickly. "I'll go and check it out."

Watching as his partner fled the room, Oishi gulped when he realized that he was now alone with Fuji and Kari. "…um, I have to go to the bathroom." He squeaked as stood up and quickly raced out of the room as well.

Kari blinked and turned to look at Fuji, the only other person in the room. "Ok, I guess the game is over now, everyone left."

"It appears so." Fuji said as he grabbed his glass from the table and took a drink. "So I hear you're planning on transferring to our school this next semester."

"Yep, I really want to move back here." Kari said with a smile. "I've missed this city, and Eiji. We grew up together and it was hard to leave him when we moved. I refused to leave my room for a week and kept demanding that we move back, but my dad's job had relocated to the states so that's where we had to stay."

"So why are you trying to come back now?" Fuji asked curiously. "Why not wait until college, wouldn't that be easier?"

"Maybe, but I have nothing going for me back home and since mom's looking to start a new family with her fiancé it works out for both of us if I come back now." Kari said with a shrug.

Sensing that this was a sore subject, Fuji changed the topic of conversation. "So if you do manage to transfer in, are you going to join the tennis club?" He asked curiously.

Kari snorted. "Yeah right, I have absolutely no talent for tennis at all, that was always Eiji's thing." She said. "I want to study computers actually, I love to tear them apart and rebuild them. What about you, are you planning on staying with tennis?"

Fuji tilted his head to the side and thought for awhile. "Perhaps, I'm not really sure though." He replied as Ryoma and Inui walked back into the room.

"I never would have thought to do that." Inui remarked, jotting down notes in his little black book.

"Yeah, if you add that much spin to it in the opposite direction it changes everything." Ryoma said as he took a seat on the floor. "It's really hard to control the ball though so I don't recommend it."

Suddenly the noise level in the room tripled as everyone chose that moment to come in. Kaidoh and Momo looked like they'd just gotten back from a war zone, Tezuka was partially covered in specks of red sauce and Kawamura was rubbing his head sheepishly, and Oishi and Eiji were carrying in several trays of food.

Setting down his trays, Eiji pulled open a small case next to his TV and began to rummage through it. "Ok, so what movie do we want to watch?" He asked, his head buried inside the case. "Something scary or something funny?"

"How about we watch something funny this time." Tezuka said as he sat down on a chair. "We watched a scary movie the last time."

When no one else said anything, Eiji shrugged. "Funny it is then." Tossing some DVD's to the side he pulled out a disk and walked over to place it in the player. "May I present for your viewing pleasure…Ice Age!" He said with a small bow. As silence washed over the room, Eiji's shoulders drooped and he plopped down on the sofa next to Kari. "You guys are mean." He mumbled with a pout.

Shaking her head, Kari patted Eiji on the arm and relaxed into the couch as the movie began to play.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own the Prince of Tennis or anything affiliated with said show. I do own Kari and her crazy ideas though.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

* * *

The next morning Kari woke up with a killer headache, which no doubt came from falling asleep on the couch at a weird angle. Standing up and stretching the kinks out of her back, she yawned and stepped around the bodies on the floor to head to the kitchen. Seeing Tezuka leaning against the counter, she nodded in greeting before pulling open the fridge and grabbing a leftover piece of chicken from the night before. "Are you always up this early?" She asked curiously.

"Yes." Tezuka replied as he took a sip of his tea. "I start practice at 5am so I'm done before classes start."

"Wow, that's some dedication." Kari said between bites. "But that's to be expected of the captain."

Before their conversation could continue, Eiji stumbled into the kitchen groggily and nearly fell over trying to open the door to the fridge.

Rolling her eyes, Kari helped her friend to a chair at the table and went back to get him a glass of orange juice. It was the only thing he ever drank in the morning. Pouring him a cup, she placed it on the table and nudged Eiji on the shoulder to wake him up more. "Here, drink this." She said softly.

"…thanks." Eiji muttered as he took a small sip.

Placing his glass in the sink, Tezuka turned and walked out of the kitchen while Kari sat down at the table next to Eiji.

"Hey Kari, you wanna come to the courts and watch us play today?" Eiji asked suddenly. "I know you don't really like tennis, but it'll be fun."

Smiling, Kari nodded her head. "Sure, I'd love to." She said, taking his now empty glass and placing it in the sink. "Now why don't you go and get some more sleep, you look exhausted." Getting no response, Kari shook her head when she heard soft snores coming from the table. "Never mind." Yawning, she decided to follow her own advice and headed to her room to lie down.

ooooo

Several hours later Kari and Eiji met up with the rest of the team at some nearby courts. As the guys set down their bags and began to warm-up, Kari chose to wander around the small park for a little while. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She told Eiji as she headed off. "I just want to go explore a bit." Seeing his nod she smiled and walked off.

"This place is really beautiful." Kari said softly as she walked slowly down a small path. "Eiji told me that they'd torn down that old building, but he never said that they'd built a park in its place." She walked around for nearly 15 minutes before deciding that she'd better get back to see Eiji play. Turning around a corner as she neared the courts, Kari ran into another person. Shaking her head, she apologized quickly. "I'm so sorry; I wasn't watching where I was going."

The man she'd hit sneered down at her. "You could've ruined my racket." He said angrily. "Pay more attention when you're walking you pathetic little girl. Next time I won't be so nice." Seeing her eyes narrow, he smirked. "What's the matter, are you pissed now?" He asked mockingly. "Here, go ahead and slap me if it'll make you feel better." Smirking, he turned his head to the side and waited.

Raising her hand, Kari smirked just before punching him in the stomach. As the man doubled over and began to gasp for air, she grinned. "Now who's the pathetic little girl?" She asked. Seeing as he couldn't talk, Kari put her hands in her pockets and started to walk off. "Maybe next time you should be more careful when you open your mouth." With a small wave she disappeared around the building.

When Kari finally made it back to the tennis courts, Eiji was already partway through his match. Taking a seat on the bleachers next to Inui, she began to cheer him on.

Five minutes later, as Eiji's match was nearing its end, Fuji took a seat next to Kari. "On my way out of the restroom, I ran into a man that was muttering about some crazy chick that tried to kill him. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" He asked.

Kari scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "…um…would you believe me if I said no?" She replied meekly.

Fuji simply shook his head and smiled. "No, but he did ask for it so as far as I'm concerned he deserved it." He said with a wave of his hand, signaling that the conversation was over.

"Yeah, he did." Kari said quietly as she turned back in time to see Eiji win the match. Jumping up, she stepped off the bleachers to congratulate her friend. Walking up behind him she threw her arm around his shoulder and gave him a hug. "Nice job." She told him with a smile.

"Thanks." Eiji said with a smile. Before he could say anything more, his cell phone began to ring. Pulling it out of his bag, only an idiot would play with it in their pocket, he flipped it open. "Hello." Nodding his head, he held the phone out for Kari. "It's for you." He said.

Shrugging, Kari took the phone and held it up to her ear. "What's up?" She asked cheerfully. "…really…she said that…are you sure…yes, I'll call her when I get back." Hanging up the phone, she turned to Eiji with a huge grin. "Guess what, mom finished the paperwork so I'll be starting school with you in the fall." She said happily.

"Hurray!" Eiji cried as he threw his arms around Kari and began to spin her around in circles.

"That's wonderful news." Oishi said from his spot next to Tezuka.

"Yes, now I have another person to try out my drinks." Inui said with a creepy smile as he and Fuji joined the group.

"Who's staying?" Momo asked as Kaidoh, Ryoma and Kawamura walked over from the opposite court.

"I am." Kari said happily. "I'll be joining all of you at school next month."

"Cool." Ryoma said boredly, picking up his racket and bouncing a ball on the side of it. "Can we get back to the matches now?"

Once everyone finished congratulating Kari, they all headed back to the courts except Eiji. "I'm glad you're going to stay." He said happily. "I've missed you."

"Yeah, me too." Kari replied with a smile.

"Just try not to get into too much trouble at school, the principal's very harsh." Eiji said as he grabbed his racket. "And I was serious about not putting cameras in my room." Seeing the smirk on his friends face, he just shook his head. 'Well at least high school won't be boring.' He thought with a smile.

Kari watched her friend walk away and went back to sit on the bleachers. Pulling a small black notebook out of her pocket, she began to jot down ideas. 'I think I'll start the school year off with a bang and superglue all the lockers shut.' She thought evilly. 'That principal won't know what hit him.'

Eiji looked over at the bleachers when he heard Kari's evil laugh and sighed. 'Nope, definitely won't be boring.' He thought, a small smile forming on his face as he shook his head.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own the Prince of Tennis or anything affiliated with said show. I do own Kari and her crazy ideas though.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

* * *

3 Years Later

Kari stretched and covered a yawn behind her hand as she watched the other graduating students being congratulated by their families. It's not that she was bored; she'd just been up most of the night before trying to prepare her final prank before graduation. 'I can't wait to see the look on the principal's face when he sees what I did to his car.' Grinning evilly, she almost started to laugh maniacally, but then thought better of it. 'Don't want to get caught.' Suddenly an arm found its way around her shoulders and she smiled. "Hey Eiji." She said happily as the rest of the Seigaku tennis team wandered over to join them.

Grinning, Eiji hugged his friend and pulled a camera out of his pocket. "Ok everyone, it's picture time!" He announced excitedly, waving his camera in the air. "I want to remember this day forever!"

"Why?" Inui asked curiously as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. "This is a common ceremony that every student participates in. Besides, only the five of you are graduating this year so it's not even our ceremony." He finished, motioning to himself, Kaidoh, Momo and Ryoma.

"He probably wants to remember it because he almost failed." Kari said with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Tezuka asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow in question. "I thought his grades were excellent."

"They were!" Eiji practically shouted. "I always did well with my classes."

Cocking his head, Fuji looked over at Kari. "So what do you mean then? If his grades were good then how is it he almost failed high school?" He asked.

"His grades may have been good, but his attendance sucked." Kari replied with a smile. "He was always coming in to class late and falling asleep during lectures. Mrs. Hani, our homeroom teacher, was talking about holding him back a year, but then she suddenly quit three months ago and he was off the hook."

"Wow, that was lucky." Oishi said. "If she hadn't quit then you might not have been able to graduate with us."

"Yeah, lucky." Eiji muttered as he glanced over at a smirking Kari. 'Unfortunately, now I'm indebted to her. There's nothing lucky about that, it sucks.' He thought with a pout.

"I remember hearing something about a teacher who suddenly quit one day a few months back, but I had no idea she was your homeroom teacher." Fuji said. "If I remember correctly she voluntarily locked herself up in a psych ward for observation because she claimed to be hearing a very creepy female voice in her head." Glancing over at Kari, he smirked as she looked away and began to whistle innocently. 'Ah, so I was right, she had something to do with it.' He thought, shaking his head with a small smile. 'She really is a great friend if she's willing to go that far to help Eiji graduate.'

Tezuka raised an eyebrow as he watched Kari whistle, but decided he really didn't want to know anything about it. 'It's probably better I don't know anyway, that girl is constantly getting herself into trouble.' He thought with a small smile. It had been fun hanging out with her these last three years after all, even though she was a troublemaker.

"Can we just get this stupid picture over with?" Ryoma asked, pushing Momo off his foot. "I don't have all day."

"Oh right, the picture!" Eiji exclaimed. "I'd almost forgotten." Smiling brightly, he pushed the team together and positioned them where he wanted them. "Ok, Tezuka please move a little closer to Inui and Kawamura you come in too. Momo and Kaidoh, try not to crush Ryoma down there in front. Oishi you're next to Fuji and I'll be between Oishi and Kari." Once everyone was where he wanted them, Eiji turned around and tapped a random person on the shoulder. "Hey, do you think you could take a picture of us?" He asked.

"Sure." The young man said as he took the camera and stepped back slightly.

Eiji slid between his two best friends and smiled widely at the camera. "Ok, now smile everyone!" He said as the man held up the camera and clicked the button.

Glancing at the image, the man nodded his head and walked over to hand the camera back. "Well there you go." He said as he turned to walk away.

"Thanks mister!" Eiji called after him. Holding up his camera he clicked a few buttons to bring up the last image. Smiling at the picture of his friends, he tucked the camera back into his pocket and wrapped an arm around Oishi. "Now that that's done, I say we all head to Kawamura's place and grab some food."

"That sounds like a good idea." Tezuka said with a nod.

"My dad should have everything all ready by the time we get there." Kawamura said with a small smile. "He left about twenty minutes ago so he could prepare the food."

"All right, food!" Momo cried, thrusting his fist in the air as he began to march off. "Let's go!"

The rest of the team shook their heads and followed after him, far too used to his antics by now. With a smile, Kari looked back at the school one last time and then followed as well. As she began to step through the gate, Kari heard a scream and paused.

"HOW DARE SOMEONE PAINT MY CAR PINK WITH PURPLE POLKADOTS!!" A male voice screamed from across the campus. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS WHOEVER YOU ARE!!"

Laughing, Kari passed through the gate and headed down the street to join her friends. 'As much fun as high school was, I'm glad it's over.' She thought. 'I was starting to run out of ways to cover my tracks, and it wouldn't be any fun if I got caught.' As the screams from the principal faded away, Kari began to whistle cheerfully as she joined up with her odd group of friends. 'I wonder what kind of sushi they'll have today.' She thought curiously.


End file.
